Monitoring water floods using potentials between casing-mounted electrodes
Active Publication Date: 2018-04-10
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES INC
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Benefits of technology
The patent text describes various techniques for monitoring the locations of water floods in oil wells. The techniques involve measuring potentials between a well casing and electrodes mounted circumferentially about the casing or between the electrodes themselves. By measuring these potentials, the techniques can detect water floods and determine their proximity to the well. This information can help to prevent damage to the well and minimize financial losses. The techniques can be performed using casing-mounted electrodes and fiber optic sensors, and they can be used in both drilling and production environments.
Problems solved by technology
The injected water approaches the producing well in what is called a “water flood.” If the water flood breaks through to the producing well, the fluid produced by the producing well will become contaminated with the water.
Existing monitoring techniques (e.g., electric field measurement techniques) often fail to detect such water floods until they are too close to the producing well and have already begun to dilute the hydrocarbons that the well produces, resulting in significant financial losses.
Method used
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[0026]Disclosed herein are various techniques for monitoring the locations of water floods adjacent to a well. A water flood approaching a well causes resistivity changes in the formation surrounding the well. The significance of these formation resistivity changes increases with greater proximity to the water flood. Accordingly, the techniques disclosed herein include injecting current into the formation surrounding the well and measuring potentials between a well casing and electrodes mounted circumferentially about the casing, or between the electrodes themselves. Although the current is injected (e.g., via the casing) in an azimuthally uniform manner, the potentials measured at the different electrodes will vary depending on their respective proximities to the water flood. Because these electrode potentials directly reflect water flood proximity, they can be measured and analyzed to determine the locations of the water floods.
[0027]FIGS. 1-3 represent various subterranean enviro...
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A system for locating water floods, in some embodiments, comprises: multiple non-reference electrodes with insulative pads for coupling to a borehole casing; a reference electrode with an insulative pad for coupling to the borehole casing; and multiple transducers coupled to the reference and non-reference electrodes, each of said electrodes coupled to one or more of the multiple transducers, wherein each transducer coupled to a non-reference electrode determines a differential non-reference potential between that non-reference electrode and the reference electrode, and wherein a transducer that couples to the borehole casing determines an absolute reference potential between the borehole casing and the reference electrode; wherein the differential non-reference potentials are mathematically combined with the absolute reference potential to produce absolute non-reference potentials; wherein scaling weights are applied to said absolute non-reference potentials to produce scaled absolute potentials that are used to determine a water flood location.
Description
BACKGROUND[0001]In some enhanced oil recovery efforts, water is injected into a dead well to increase hydrocarbon throughput in an adjacent, producing well. The injected water approaches the producing well in what is called a “water flood.” If the water flood breaks through to the producing well, the fluid produced by the producing well will become contaminated with the water. Existing monitoring techniques (e.g., electric field measurement techniques) often fail to detect such water floods until they are too close to the producing well and have already begun to dilute the hydrocarbons that the well produces, resulting in significant financial losses.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS[0002]Accordingly, there are disclosed in the drawings and in the following description systems and methods for monitoring the locations of water floods by measuring potentials between multiple casing-mounted electrodes. In the drawings:[0003]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a drilling environment.[0004]...
Claims
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Patent Timeline
Login to View More IPC IPC(8): E21B47/10G01V3/18E21B43/20
CPCE21B47/102G01V3/18E21B43/20G01V3/20E21B47/113Y02A90/30
InventorFOUDA, AHMED ELSAYEDDONDERICI, BURKAY
OwnerHALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES INC